I tested the Ryzen 7 9800X3D against the Core Ultra 9 285K. It’s not even close

AMD’s hotly anticipated Ryzen 7 9800X3D is yet here, and I’ll show you correct distant that it’s 1 of nan best processors you tin buy. It introduces AMD’s next-gen 3D V-Cache tech, and it dominates successful games. But there’s still plentifulness of title coming from Intel.

The caller Core Ultra 9 285K offers much cores and higher speeds overall, and though it’s a flagship CPU, nan value summation connected nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D intends nan 2 CPUs are person than ever successful price. I threw them connected nan trial chair to spot which CPU comes retired ahead, and nan title wasn’t astir arsenic tight arsenic I thought it would be.

Specs and pricing

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 9 285K are successful different capacity classes, but they’re really overmuch person successful value than you mightiness expect. A value summation connected nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D has brought it up to $479. Meanwhile, Intel has slow reduced prices connected its flagship complete nan past fewer generations. The Core Ultra 9 285K comes successful astatine $629 correct now, but prices should driblet to astir $589 successful nan adjacent future. No doubt, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D is importantly cheaper, but nan spread isn’t arsenic ample arsenic it erstwhile was.

There’s a bully logic why there’s still a gap. The Core Ultra 9 285K is simply a flagship, and it comes pinch each of nan bells and whistles that warrant that label. It’s a 24-core spot that comes pinch 24 threads. As opposed to CPUs for illustration nan Core i9-14900K, Intel chose to ditch hyper-threading connected nan Core Ultra 9 285K. Instead, it focused connected individual halfway performance. That intends that nan Core Ultra 9 285K is person to a existent 24-core CPU, dissimilar erstwhile Intel flagships, which mostly relied connected 8 capacity cores.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is successful a acold different category. It’s only an eight-core processor, though it has entree to simultaneous multi-threading (SMT), truthful you still get 16 threads. Core count isn’t nan beardown suit of this processor. It’s nan 3D V-Cache tech that AMD is using. With this design, AMD is capable to battalion 104MB of cache onto nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which stacks up against only 60MB of cache connected nan Core Ultra 9 285K.

In addition, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D uses AMD’s next-gen 3D V-Cache tech. With erstwhile CPUs for illustration nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD would stack further cache connected apical of nan CPU die. Now, AMD puts nan cache nether nan die. That gives nan cores much nonstop entree to cooling, allowing AMD to push timepiece speeds and unlock nan processor afloat for overclocking.

Outside of cores and cache, nan Core Ultra 9 285K draws rather a spot much powerfulness than nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It tin climb up to 250 watts, while nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D tops retired astatine 120W — and it seldom ever reaches that mark. However, some CPUs are very efficient, truthful nan spread isn’t arsenic ample arsenic nan specs would suggest.

Productivity performance

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Just based connected nan specs, you would presume nan Core Ultra 9 285K mops nan level pinch nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and there’s immoderate truth to that. However, nan spread betwixt nan 2 CPUs isn’t arsenic ample arsenic you mightiness suspect. Starting pinch nan champion showing for Intel, you tin spot Cinebench R24 above. The floor plan speaks for itself here. With a monolithic halfway advantage and higher timepiece speeds, nan Core Ultra 9 285K comes retired up successful some single-core and multi-core performance.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

The Core Ultra 9 285K has been branded nan Cinebench king for a reason, though. It performs oddly good successful rendering applications for illustration Cinebench. Even successful Blender, which is different rendering application, you tin spot nan Core Ultra 9 285K’s lead commencement to slip. It’s overmuch faster than nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D still, but it’s not offering 2 times nan capacity crossed nan board.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Outside of rendering, nan Core Ultra 9 285K shockingly loses its grip connected nan capacity crown. Handbrake shows that successful action. The Core Ultra 9 285K completed nan transcode 26% faster than nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but that’s a hollow victory. Transcoding is simply a heavy threaded workload that should standard up to nan monolithic halfway array connected nan Core Ultra 9 285K. Intel’s CPU is faster, nary doubt, but it shouldn’t moreover beryllium close.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

These capacity differences person large implications successful real-world apps. If you look astatine Premiere Pro, for example, nan Core Ultra 9 285K and Ryzen 7 9800X3D connection astir identical performance. That’s bad for Intel. Premiere Pro is an app that tin standard to much than 8 cores, and nan Core Ultra 9 285K conscionable isn’t showing disconnected those benefits.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Worse, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D was really faster than nan Core Ultra 9 285K successful Photoshop. It’s faster by a important margin, too. Photoshop isn’t a very demanding app, and it doesn’t standard past 8 cores. But it illustrates nan inconsistent capacity of nan Core Ultra 9 285K, contempt what its specs would suggest.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Elsewhere, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D leads successful Y-Cruncher. This app calculates Pi, and though I don’t deliberation astir readers present are buying a CPU for that purpose, it offers a bully model into an advantage of nan AMD chip. It supports AVX-512 instructions, which Y-Cruncher uses. Some AI applications, arsenic good arsenic PS3 emulation, usage AVX-512 instructions. Despite that, nan Core Ultra 9 285K doesn’t support these instructions. That leads to nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D showing a sizable lead successful Y-Cruncher contempt its clear halfway disadvantage.

The Core Ultra 9 285K is simply a amended prime than nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D if you’re chiefly concerned pinch productivity performance, but it’s still not a good choice. AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X is your champion stake for productivity. Keeping these 2 CPUs successful isolation, however, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D really comes retired ahead, and that’s owed to really it balances acceptable productivity capacity pinch a monolithic gaming advantage.

Gaming performance

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

I’ll fto nan floor plan supra do astir of nan speaking here. It’s not moreover adjacent erstwhile it comes to nan gaming capacity of nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 9 285K. AMD’s CPU is universally faster successful nan 10 games I tested, and I can’t ideate location are galore games — if immoderate astatine each — wherever Intel shows a commanding lead. Even worse news for Intel is that these results aren’t solely connected nan backmost of AMD’s 3D V-Cache.

How tin I tell? Look astatine games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Returnal, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Black Myth: Wukong. All of these games attraction measurement much astir your graphics paper than your processor, and nan margins betwixt nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 9 285K are narrow. But AMD’s spot is still faster crossed nan board. It’s not meaningfully faster, sure, but these titles showcase that nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D is conscionable a faster gaming CPU overall, 3D V-Cache aliases not.

In nan titles wherever nan further cache shines, it’s a bloodbath. You spot that very intelligibly in F2 2022 and Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail, where nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D is complete 50 frames ahead. That’s a immense margin, and it mostly comes down to nan cache. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 see a large bump, too, which is surprising. Cyberpunk 2077 can standard good to a batch of cores, which nan Core Ultra 9 285K offers, but nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D still comes retired up contempt its humble halfway count.

It’s not a astonishment that nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D comes retired up connected gaming performance, but nan margins are larger than I expected. Usually, I spot a flimsy bump for a 3D V-Cache CPU complete a flagship, but AMD perfectly crushes Intel here.

A decisive win

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Between a little price, overmuch amended gaming performance, and shockingly competent productivity performance, nan Ryzen 7 9800X3D is nan clear prime here. It comes pinch a value hike compared to nan erstwhile generation, but it’s still acold cheaper than nan Core Ultra 9 285K. It’s besides based connected nan AM5 platform, truthful you tin prevention moreover much money if you already person a Ryzen 7000 CPU that you want to upgrade from.

The Core Ultra 9 285K doesn’t really person a spot successful nan existent scenery of CPUs. It’s an awesome chip, and surely an absorbing one, but it still doesn’t make a batch of consciousness to bargain 1 — beryllium it for gaming aliases productivity. It’s costly and seldom maxes retired connected power, unless you conscionable beryllium astatine your PC and tally Cinebench each day.